Singer Sinead O’Connor has died, Irish media reported Wednesday. She was 56 years old.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time,” the singer’s family said in a statement to the BBC and Irish broadcaster RTE.
O’Connor, born in Dublin, was recognizable by her shaved head and elfin features. She was a star from her 1987 debut album “The Lion and the Cobra” and became a sensation in 1990 with her cover of Prince’s ballad “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a seething, shattering performance that topped charts from Europe to Australia and was heightened by a promotional video featuring the gray-eyed O’Connor in intense close-up.
Her discography spanned decades. O’Connor released ten studio albums between 1987 and 2014. Her 1991 album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” won the Grammy for best alternative performance.
She was a lifelong non-conformist — she said her shaved head was in response to record executives pressuring her to be conventionally glamorous.
The singer was always outspoken on political matters, from Irish unification to sexual abuse in the Catholic church. During a 1992 performance on “Saturday Night Live,” O’Connor ripped up a photo of the pope on live television in protest.
In 1999, O’Connor caused uproar in Ireland when she became a priestess of the breakaway Latin Tridentine Church — a position that was not recognized by the mainstream Catholic Church.
She converted to Islam in 2018 and told fans she had changed her name to Shuhada’ Davitt.
Her cause of death was not immediately released.
O’Connor is survived by her three children, the Irish Times reports. Her son Shane died at age 17 last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
